Jinxed
by akumaokami
Summary: The gang has a NEW mission... because the administration thinks that the students are taking magic too lightly. So now it's OFF TO MUGGLE SCHOOLS... with more than just a few twists around the bend.
1. The Disturbing News

Jinx walked off the Hogwarts Express train, carrying her small trunk. _Another year at Hogwarts, _she thought mildly. It wasn't that she didn't LIKE going to school (which the muggles at her orphanage often complained about), it was just that she wasn't all that ready. Her first year at school had been alright; but it was hard. The orphanage teachers hated her even before they had learned of her magical heritage. She had been a rather dark girl, lonely and depressed most of the time, getting her only joys in life from simply things like snow or rain. But the most exciting thing to her was magic. She loved to read books on it, or write her own stories about it, or learn urban legends and folk tales. By the time she was 7, they had locked her in her room for good. When they found out about her rather unusual history, they went absolutely insane, chasing the owl outside with a broom or burning the letter before it was read. She had been 11, locked in her room for 4 years. Her bright red-gold eyes missed nothing and her pale skin glowed as if made of the moon light she cherished so deeply at night. She was tall and thin and her wispy blue-white hair was often down and twirling about her. For some reason, her room was never hot. It was almost always cold. An icy cold in the winter and a night breeze cold in the summer. And then it all made sense. They had screamed at her; they had broken and melted anything she ate off of as soon as she ate her food; they had worn plastic gloves and contaminators suits while cleaning her room while she was leaving. But she couldn't care less. It wasn't as if they cared about her. So she had left with the messenger and bought everything necessary for school at Diagon Alley, boarded the train and was off to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. And once school was out... all collapsed. She went back to the orphanage and they locked her in her room once again, this time keeping all her things under lock and key somewhere in the basement, far, far below. She was sure that they only reason they kept her from the basement was because it was illegal and the orphanage would be shut down other wise.

And here she was again, right back at Hogwarts for another year. She looked around. She was the only Slytherin for possibly decades whose best and only friends were from Gryffindor. Fred and George Weasley were her best friends, and she knew that the only people they cared about more as a friend was each other. Lee Jordan was with them and waved at her. She waved back. The twins were the ones who introduced them, of course. And then... someone hugged her from behind. "WHAAA--?!" She exclaimed, falling forward a few steps. She turned back to see Hermoine giggling.

"I'm sorry if I scared you," She said apologetically.

"It's fine," Jinx answered. She looked around for a moment. "Hey, where's Harry and Ron?" They were reaching the dining hall. Hermoine looked at her with worried eyes.

"I have no idea. They weren't on the train, though."

"Well, that can't be good." Jinx sighed. "Harry hates those muggles he lives with more than anything else in the world... excepting maybe Voldemort... and Ron's parents are here with his little sister," She jerked her head toward the bright red haired family walking through the door. She saw Hermoines fear grow in her eyes and gave her a reassuring smile. "Everything will be alright." They walked into the hall and parted, Hermoine going to the Gryffindor table and Jinx to the Slytherins.

"Hanging with mudbloods again this year, I see," a cold, sneering voice came from behind her. She already knew who it was.

"Still kissing your own reflection every day in the mirror, I see," She turned to look into the cold eyes of Draco Malfoy. "Tell me, Draco, do you kiss your water reflection as well? You know, it might smear your make up," She put on a worried face. "God forbid the world see the _real_ Draco Malfoy." He glared at her. She returned it with equal intensity.

"Your a filthy mudblood yourself, you should be with your own horrible friends," He hissed at her, taking a seat next to her. Crab and Goyle, as always, sat to the right of him, while she moved as far away from him without having to actually get up as possible.

"If you've forgotten already, Malfoy, I'm a pure blood," She spat at him. "Just not a stuck up rich kid like you." She smirked. "You see, I don't go begging my daddy for things every 5 seconds. I actually EARN everything I own."

Malfoy looked at the trunk she had next to her and said, amusement in his voice, "Which isn't a lot, now is it?" She was about to retort when he opened his mouth again. "After all, you can't EARN anything trapped in a room on the top floor of a muggle orphanage can you?" She was seething with anger as he went on casually, "After all, I bet if you could, you would go to your father everyday to ask for new things. But thats right! Your parents are _dead._" She curled her fist and was about to break that white little nose of his when Professor Dumbldore came up to the stage.

"Now, now, students," He said in his old, wise voice. "Settle down, settle down. We have a huge announcement to make tonight that will effect everyone who-" Screams erupted outside followed by a loud _CRASH_ and a series of heart jerking BOOMS. Then all stopped. Students rushed to the windows, crowding and shoving to get there. Hermoine and Jinx stepped together to the front of a window to the far right of the hall. It was dark outside, but each knew what the other was thinking. They looked at each other.

"No-"

"They couldn't have possibly-"

"Would they try-"

They kept cutting each other off in mid sentence like that until their thoughts were confirmed; Ron and Harry stared back at them. Ron looked close to tears. The teachers came up behind them- all but Snape. Who was now behind the two boys. The teachers were walking away and Hermoine and Jinx were throwing Ron and Harry signals that should have alerted them- but Ron and Harry just stared at them curiously. They saw Snape usher them into the side door and everyone sat down in a cloud of gossip and rumors at their starting point. This time, Hermoine didn't bother to go back over to her own table, and they both sat down at the nearest table- Slytherins.

"Potter and Weasley can't even drive a magically advanced MUGGLE CAR right!" Malfoy, Crab and Goyle all burst out laughing next to them. Jinx 'accidentally' elbowed him in the ribs... hard. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR, YOU FILTHY GIT?!?!" He yelped with pain.

"Stop talking about people for one second, take your pricky little nose out of the air and look to see who's right next to you, you idiot!" She snapped at him. "Did you even NOTICE we were here?"

Before Malfoy could answer, Hermoine did. "No, they didn't," She sounded irritated. Draco glared at her.

''And you say that because...?"

"BECAUSE Crab nearly sat on me!!!" She glared at him. He glared right back.

"Maybe thats because you shouldn't be here, mudblood. You should be back with the other filth they let into this school," He snickered. "Or maybe not even here. Why don't you go back home to your filthy, dirty muggle family and stay there?"

Hermoine was too angry even to say anything. Luckily, Jinx picked it up for her. "You know what, Malfoy? If you want to talk about rights to be here, how about this. She came here and graduated top of our class last year, knows everything before they teach it and can work out any problem you give her. You? Your a pure blood. Now. You came here on your fathers tab, can't even fight your own battles and wouldn't know a common sense of courtesy unless you saw Harry with it and had to ask your daddy for it," She smirked at his scowl. "I could even see it. 'Daddy, daddy, Potter has courtesy! I WANT COURTESY! I WANT IT, I WANT IT, I WANT IT!!!'" Hermoine started to laugh along with Jinx. Draco glared at them with a hatred that seemed to come from deep, deep inside of him.

"You filth, I don't ask my father for EVERYTHING--" but he was interrupted.

Jinx was so close to grabbing her wand and hexing him, she could feel it in her hands...

"Settle down, settle down," came Dumbldores soft voice once again, though it sounded a bit tired... as if he had over used it tonight, though he probably had. The group looked up to see that sorting had come and passed without them even noticing it. Hermoine gave Jinx a quick smile and hurried off to her own table, where Ron and Harry had been put back on most likely for this big announcement Dumbldore was talking about. "Now, as I was saying, we have a rather large announcement. As of last night the teachers of our school have decided- you take magic for granted. Muggles survive, though they would cherish magic if ever given the chance,"

_Phf, yeah right,_ Jinx thought to herself, remembering the orphanage. Dumbldore went on.

"So, as a solution to this problem, we will be sending all students, years 2 and up, to a regular, muggle school for the year, with the exceptions of prefects." He waited for this to sink in. The effect was astonishing.

Choruses of groans and moans were echoing off the walls. Screams and shouts were raising the volume to an extraordinary height, leading them all was none other than Draco Malfoy. **"A MUGGLE SCHOOL?!?!?!?!?!? MY FATHER WILL HEAR ABOUT THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"** He shouted. Jinx smirked and caught his eye.

"I told you so," She said smoothly. He glared, his icy eyes piercing.

"Told me what?" He snapped. She was unshaken.

"That you cry to your daddy about everything," Before he could retort, or even open his mouth fully, she yelped, in a high, annoying voice, "And I quote, 'MY FATHER WILL HEAR ABOUT THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'" He glared at her, but Dumbldore quieted the hall down once again.

"If you fail, you will retake your entire year at the muggle school. You may use magic, but not near the muggles you will live around. For the holidays, you may also come back here or go home, which ever you choose. But other than that, you are to stay within the schools bounds, wherever the school may decide to set them. Oh, and also, none of the people at the school knows. They think that this is an exchange program." He let the crowd over take him this time and said at last, "After this feast, all years 2 and above will be boarding the train and heading to the school. We will set you up for your co-ed dorms on the train."

For the first time ever, the school ate in complete silence. No one even wanted to complain about it. They were to busy wondering what they were going to do once there. At last, Professor McGonnagal stepped up and broke the silence. "Now all students, excepting Prefects and first years, may board the train."


	2. The Train Ride

The students dragged their bags outside as the noise slowly increased. Some students were complaining, and some were excited. Jinx wasn't so sure she really cared. She spent her summers and most of her life before Hogwarts in the muggle world. But she wasn't so sure it was possible to call that living. She spent all the time in her room, where she talked to her pet cat Gin all the time, anyway. She stopped as someone called her name. "JINX! JINX!" She turned. It was Harry, Ron, Hermoine, the twins and Lee Jordan. She waited for them to catch up.

"Jinx you won't believe what Harry and Ron did!" Hermoine, the twins and Lee Jordan shouted at her. The difference was that the twins and Lee Jordan looked happy, though a little disappointed, and Hermoine... Hermoine looked furious. She was the first to say anything.

"Ron and Harry came here by driving a FLYING MUGGLE CAR!" She exploded. "FLYING CAR!!!!!!! They could have gotten expelled, killed, reported to the police! That was THE stupidest idea you two have ever come up with!" Hermoine was to worked up to say anything more. Then the twins started.

"AMAZING! But why THEY got to and WE didn't, We'll never know," The said. Lee looked amazed, alright. He wasn't saying anything, and she didn't want to ask.

"Harry, Ron, what happened?" She just tilted her head to the side. In their little group, every one had a specific role. The twins were the trouble makers; Lee Jordan was the twins audience and partner; Harry was the hero; Hermoine was the genius and the rule-enforcer; Ron was the side kick; and Jinx was the girl that attracted bad luck. Thus the name. She was always in trouble for no reason (mostly by Snape, who hated her... a lot.) and was always sarcastic and had a bad sense of humor. For some reason, all the Slytherins liked to call her the 'Slytherin Princess'. Something about her being to cruel to people. And her and Draco making a good pair. She shivered. She hated that reason. She didn't even know WHY they said that.

"WELL, we got locked out of platform 9 and 3/4 so we decided- Hermoine stop glaring at me!- anyway, we decided to take the car. It went well until we got here..." Ron was scowling at Hermione.

"WELL!?!?!! IT WENT WELL?!?!?!" She exploded. Harry was hiding behind the twins. "YOU TWO WERE SEEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Jinx looked over at Harry with her eye brows raised. He nodded. Code for: 'Seriously?' and 'Yeah.' Something the group had created to communicate when Hermoine went nuts like this.

Jinx stepped up next to her. "Hermoine, it's fine, calm down," She said smoothly. "We're about to board the train, anyway." Hermoine calmed down slightly, but not enough to stop glaring at Ron. Jinx was afraid they'd get violent, so chose the car farthest down, held the door for all of them, and closed it tightly. "Okay, at least back here you can fight to your hearts content." She turned and saw something she wouldn't have expected- EVER. Draco Malfoy and his crew were staring at the 7 of them as if they were wind up toys meant only for amusement.

"Welcome," He said coldly, amusement in his voice. "To our train car."

She glared at him, along with Harry. Harry may hate Malfoy, but Jinx despised him. And loathed him. She took EVERY CLASS SHE HAD with him. And he LIVED by her. She figured it was reason enough to hate him. That and how he treated other people. And the fact that his father had killed both her parents.

Jinx sat down and sighed, letting Harry take over fighting with Malfoy for her. Her parents. She and Harry had that connection, if nothing at all. Her parents... they had been tortured to death by Luscious Malfoy. It was... at the least, it was torturous not to be able to kill Draco. At the _least._ The very _least. _She couldn't remember anything from before the times she was 5- that was about the time that she had woken in the hospital. She could remember that moment, bright and clear- she had woken up and she had had no idea who she was, or why she was there. All she could remember was that a doctor was hovering over her and it was bright and sunny- and blinding. She remembered trying to get up but being pushed back down, taking some sort of medicine, then going back to sleep. When she woke up, she was in the orphanage.

"Jinx?" Jinx shook herself awake and looked up. Harry was looking down on her, looking worried; Ron and Hermoine were arguing; Fred, George and Lee Jordan were looking at something in a suitcase (she had absolutely no intention of asking what it was) and Draco, Crabbe and Goyle were sneering at her. Harry lowered his voice. "I could use a little help here."

Jinx stood and glared at Draco. "You realize that if you don't leave now, I'll be forced to break that twitchy little nose of yours, right?"

Jinx smirked as she saw Draco twitch slightly. Crabbe and Goyle stepping in front of him. "You can't hurt me, Jinx."

Jinx lowered her voice to a soft, deadly whisper. "Oh yes, Malfoy. Oh yes, I can." Dracos eyes widened and he faltered back a step. Crabbe and Goyle stepped forward and cracked their knuckles. Jinx's eyes flashed. "Do you think you scare me?" She laughed and even Harry shivered at her laugh. It was dark and dry- and delicate as a bell. "Try me. Come on. Try it." She looked up at them blankly. Crabbe and Goyle stepped back a bit. She stepped forward and glanced over her shoulder. She, officially, had the entire train cars attention. She pushed Goyle slightly. "Are you going to do anything?" Goyle and Crabbe blinked in unison and stepped back towards Malfoy. Then she walked up to Malfoy. "Trust and believe, Malfoy, be a bitch in anyway, and I will rip that sneer right off your disgusting face."

Malfoy flinched and signaled to Crabbe and Goyle to leave. Jinx collapsed into her chair and sighed. Ron put a hand on her shoulder. "Jinx, never do that again." Jinx laughed and sighed, leaning back.

"No problem there, man. If that idiot comes back into the train again, then I won't waste anytime talking." Ron shivered- he had been there when she had gotten into a fight with Pansy Parkinston. It wasn't a very good image for someone like Ron.

George and Fred were about to say something when the cabin door opened. Professor McGonagal walked in. Hermoine tilted her head. "Professor, you're coming as well?"

Mcgonnagal shook her head. "No. I'm just coming along to get you set into your coed dorms, sign everyone in, and then I'm leaving. Hm... Potter, Weasley, Miss Granger, Miss Jinx, one room. Fred, George, Lee Jordan, you will be sharing the only full-boy dorm with Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle." With that, she snapped the door shut with a neat _ping_ and walked away. Fred, George and Jordan stared at each other, opened mouth.

"No."

"Is she joking?"

"_WHAT?!"_

Ron started laughing, until George and Fred started glaring at him. His mouth closed quickly. "Well, it is pretty funny," He admitted, looking at his brothers. "Knock 'em dead for dad, okay?" He looked at his brothers seriously. "Literally. Please. Knock them _dead._"

"What were you two going to say?" Jinx cut in, not giving them a chance to kill Ron. Hermoine looked slightly disappointed though. She sighed; the whole car thing would probably take her a while to get over without something horrible happening to Ron and Harry; though more Ron, she supposed, guessing by the way Hermoine was glaring daggers towards him.

Fred looked confused for a while then laughed. "Oh, yeah. We were just remembering that one time when you got into that fight with Parkinson. It was hilarious."

George nodded and laughed. "Especially when she cried because you grabbed her wand and threatened to break it."

"No, I thought that it was funnier when she used that charm to cut Pansy's hair. It took her forever to calm down."

"Oh yeah! When she was so worked up that she kept charging but Jinx just dodged and McGonnagal came down with Snape and got into that argument because Snape wanted to give you detention for fighting when it was clearly Parkinson's fault."

George, Fred and Lee Jordan started laughing, and later Ron and Jinx joined in.

Harry looked at them. "I wish I was there. That would have been so much more awesome then wherever I was."

Jinx nodded. "Yup, probably. Wait-" She looked at Fred, George and Jordan. "You three weren't there."

George and Fred leaned back. Lee Jordan looked embarrassed. "Um... was that a squirrel?"

Jinx raised an eyebrow. "Nice try. How did you know? Did Ron tell you?"

Ron said no at the same time Fred and George said yes. They glared at him. "Ron-"

Jinx cut them off as soon as the train stopped. Standing up and grabbing their things, George, Fred and Jordan said quickly, "We were in Potions class and... spied?" Then got out as quickly as possible.


	3. Day 1: Muggle Meetings

Jinx cursed loudly and walked out of the bathroom, irritated. The four of them, Ron, Harry, Hermoine and Jinx had been checked in and assigned the night before. Though, it had been late, and, as far as they knew, no one even knew the name of the school. Everyone just walked into their dorms and fell asleep, deciding to wait until it wasn't midnight to get used to everything. Now, it was morning, and everyone was getting dressed. Which, as of now, Jinx decided she would mark down under 'Hate List For The Muggle School'. They had left a pile of uniforms on the dressers for each student and, while the boys wore gray and red pants and shirts, the girls had to wear plaid gray and red skirts along with the shirts. She looked at the mirror on the dresser and scowled. "This sucks."

Harry looked up at her as though he might cry. "You think it's bad? Guess what school this is!"

Jinx looked at the emblem on the side of the shirt and nearly busted out laughing. Harry answered for her. "SMELTINGS! WE ARE AT DUDLEYS SCHOOL!" Jinx looked at him simpathetically and grimaced. Harry was still fuming. "Draco has a new best friend. Ugh. I hate this school... I miss Hogwarts."

Jinx nodded and sighed, sitting down and sulking. Hermoine had been changing in another bathroom and Ron had gone to get their schedules- Jinx figured that Hermoine and Ron had come to some unspoken agreement that if he didn't get on her nerves until she thought that he had gotten what he deserved, then she would forgive him. She sighed. "Well, on the bright side, I look like Englands Brand New School Girl Barbie," she scowled. "I'm sorry, I said bright side. I meant dark. And I also meant to say that there IS no bright side to this." Just then, Ron, Fred and George came into the room.

"Here's the schedules- hey, is that Jinx?" Jinx glared at him and threw a pillow at his head. The twins laughed as he stumbled back a step from the force. "Yeah, that's her." Ron turned to Harry. "Did you know that this is-"

"Yeah, I know. It's Smeltings." Harry looked at his backpack sadly and sighed. "Home miserable home."

Then the other bathroom door opened and Hermoine stepped out. In contrast to Jinx, who made the uniform look too small, punk-rock and awkward in a 'Barbie gone wrong' way, Hermoine actually portrayed the proper school girl. The twins looked between the two. "Are you two wearing the same uniforms?"

Hermoine looked up at them from straightening her skirt. "Yes. Why?"

Fred blinked, looking surprised. "Well, Jinx is wearing a chain down the side of her skirt and you're wearing a belt. She has a hat on- is that a top hat?- and your hair's perfectly brushed. And... Jinx, why are you wearing those boots?" Jinx looked down at her buckled up boots and shrugged.

"I like these." Hermoine rolled her eyes.

"This being why you don't get in trouble?" Jinx shrugged. The twins looked at Harry.

"I thought your cousin went to an all-boy school. Why are they letting girls in?" The twins leaned against the wall.

Harry shrugged. "I guess this is the first year. I think that the Professors had something to do with it, though, because it's only the Hogwart students that get to enroll, even though they're girls." He shrugged again and sighed. "When does school start?" The twins shrugged and walked out of the room.

"We'll meet you guys later," Fred called over his shoulder. "We have to go get ready."

Jinx rolled her eyes and pushed herself up. "Hermoine, how did you find those shoes anyway?"

Hermoine sighed and rolled her eyes. "You realize that I always wear these shoes at school, right? These are dress code." Jinx tilted her head.

"Seriously?" Hermoine sighed and looked at Ron.

"The schedules?" Ron gave her her schedule and threw Harry and Jinx their schedules. "What classes do you guys have? I've got... English, Math, Social Studies, Physical Education, Lunch, Science, then Study Hall."

"Hmmm..." Jinx leaned against the wall again. "English... we have that class together... Social Studies, Science, Physical Education... bloody hell... Lunch... I think everyone has that together... Math, then Study Hall."

"I've got Social Studies, Science, Math, Physical Education, Lunch, English and Study hall," Ron said. Jinx could tell that he wasn't looking forward to starting the day by the way he said 'Social Studies'. It sounded like he was spitting the words. He was probably thinking about all those times Hermoine had talked about wanting to take Muggle Studies, something that seemed so useless before.

"Ron, you aren't looking forward to this, are you?" Harry mirrored Jinx's thoughts. "Anyway, I've got Social Studies, English, Math, Physical Education, Lunch, Science then Study hall." He thought for a second. "So... we've all got Study hall, Lunch and Physical Education together, huh?"

Jinx nodded. "I say we skip school and hex the principal."

"Jinx! How can you even think something like that?" Hermoine looked appalled. "Do you realize what trouble you can get in for even _mentioning_ something like that? I mean, really, that's-"

"Bad and never do it again," Jinx finished for her, rolling her eyes. "What are they going to do? They don't know what a hex is."

Hermoine shut her mouth, but still looked mildly insulted. It was hard for her to stay mad at Jinx that long though- she was right. "Sooo..." Ron stood up and glanced at the time on the wall. "Is it... 7:30? Did I get it right?"

Hermoine nodded, glanced at the clock to check and then looked at her schedule. "I think we should start walking down to our classes... the room numbers for the first classes sound like they might be around each other, but we do need to find them... and school starts at 8:00. Plus, we need to find our lockers."

Jinx shrugged on a jacket and picked up her backpack. "Hm... sounds like this could just mildly be fun."

Ron looked at her, shocked. "You think that school here for a year sounds like fun? Are you sure the uniform isn't getting to you? HERMOINE WHAT DID YOU DRUG HER WITH?!" Hermoine scowled and hit his shoulder. Ron started to rub it, but bit his tongue.

"No... the lockers and things. At least this way is easier to get revenge without being caught." Jinx laughed. "A lot easier."

Ron and Harry both sighed at the same time, then looked at each other. Harry shook his head and picked up his bag. "Are we going?" Hermoine and Jinx nodded and started out the door. Ron and Harry followed. "Wait..." Ron tilted his head. "Are Fred and George in the same grade as us or...?"

Jinx was about to answer, but Hermoine answered first. "The grading system here is the same as Hogwarts, Ron. They're still a year older than us."

"Oh..." Ron looked a little disappointed.

"What's wrong, Ron?" Jinx asked, curious. "Did you want them to be in our grade level or something?"

"No... it's just... I'd rather have them in my class then a bunch of muggles. Hey, where's locker 275?"

Jinx knew he was just trying to change the subject, but she went with it anyway. "I think... it we go around here... we should be by the lockers..."

"Jinx, where did you go before Hogwarts?" Harry asked as they turned the corner. Jinx had been right- the lockers were there. "I mean, I know you lived in an orphanage, but where did you go to school?"

"I was schooled there... for a while, anyway." She looked at the lockers, deciding that she didn't feel like discussing her past. "Here's my locker." She opened locker 271 and put some things in it. Then she closed the small door and snapped the lock onto it. The others were doing the same.

"Jinx... are you sure you won't need those things later?" Hermoine asked her, looking at her locker. "They looked important."

Harry and Ron looked over at her. "What did you put in your locker, Jinx?" Harry asked, curious. Ron nodded in agreement.

Jinx shrugged. "Nothing, really. Just some extra uniforms... some paper... some quills... things I won't need."

Ron looked over at Hermoine. "Hermoine, why did you ask her that?"

Hermoine rolled her eyes. "Because I was there when she packed her bag this morning. She put nearly all her parchment and quills in there- and all the uniforms she had besides the one she's wearing right now. Honestly, Jinx," She switched to talking to Jinx and turned to look at her. "Honestly, Jinx, what did you keep in that bag?"

Jinx shouldered her bag and shrugged. "The things I'd actually need. Some extra clothes that don't make me look like a doll, my private notebook, my own quill, a jacket and my wand." She shrugged again. "Important stuff."

Before Hermoine could respond, the bell rang and Hermoine snapped her own lock onto the locker. "We shouldn't be late on our first day. Let's go." Before anyone could say anything, Hermoine and Jinx were off, trying to find their English class, room 65, in the short 10 minutes that they gave the students to get to class. "Jinx," Hermoine asked her while scanning the right wall for the classroom, "What _are_ your priorities?"

"My priorities?" Jinx thought about it for a second while scanning the left wall for the classroom. "Not this school, if that's what you want to know." She stopped short and double checked the room number. "Yeah, Hermoine, this is our first torture chamber." Ignoring her, Hermoine opened the door and walked inside. Jinx followed.

Jinx had always hated being around a lot of people at once- being locked in a room for half your life, alone, does that to you. She had hated her first day at Hogwaets because of that, and she hated this school even more now for the same reason. Every one in the room was looking at her and Hermoine. All eyes followed them as they walked up to the teacher to introduce themselves as new students. A quick check on everyone in the room proved that they weren't the last ones there; but they were the only people from Hogwarts there at the moment.

"Hello," Hermoine said happily to the teacher. "I'm Hermoine Granger. This is Jinx Fall. We're new here. The exchange students." Jinx marveled at the fact that Hermoine could say that, without the slightest hesitation, and still smile like everything was exactly how it should be- when everything, in fact, was completely upside down. The teacher looked up at her with bored eyes.

"Yes, hello there, miss Granger, miss Fall," he said, his tone flat and monotonous. "I'm Mr.Dillins. Please take a seat- you can introduce yourself at the beginning of class." He went back to marking papers- which didn't make much sense to Jinx, considering the fact that the year had just started. How did he have any sort of school-related paper to mark?

Jinx and Hermoine took the two seats in the back by the window- "I don't want to sit in the front," Jinx insisted, pulling Hermoine along- and waited for the remaining three minutes of passing time for class to start. When the bell did ring, three more people came through the door, just making it. Jinx groaned. She'd have known that blonde hair anywhere. Sinking into her seat, she glared out the window and prayed with all her heart that there were no seats around her.

"Teacher," Malfoy sneered. "I'm Draco Malfoy and this is Crabbe and Goyle." With that little announcement, the three swaggered into the front three seats. Jinx and Hermoine sat up, glad that they didn't have to deal with the three idiots this early in the day.

Mr.Dillins, ignoring the boys, walked into the front of the room and said, in the same flat, monotonous voice, "I'm Mr.Dillins. Please, everyone come to the front of the room and grab a text book." Jinx let out a breathe that she hadn't known she was holding. _At least he didn't tell us to introduce ourselves to the class._

By P.E, Jinx was fairly certain of one thing- muggle teachers hated life. So far, all the teachers had been like Mr.Dillins- bored and irritated with life. Not that Jinx could really blame them. They got to work with kids who either slept or talked all through their class on a day to day basis. At least the kids at Hogwarts were constantly on alert and quiet during class- you had to be when everyone around you had wands and were learning things that could be used to hurt you... or worse, depending on the lesson or class.

Now, standing besides Harry, Ron and Hermoine in the Smelting P.E uniforms, she was sure that people in regular muggle schools probably hated their lives as much as the teachers. She knew how to handle herself- she had learned a thing or two in fighting on her own back at the orphanage. But Hermoine hadn't. And she had seen more than a few people glaring at her every time she raised her hand in class, or gave any of the teachers reason to think that they were welcomed in the halls of the school. But that was Hermoine for you.

Harry nudged Jinx, bringing her out of her trance. She looked at him, startled. "Yeah?" He glared off to the right. Jinx followed his glare and rolled her eyes at what she saw- a huge kid, with blonde, matted hair and sunken in eyes. She had had one, possibly two classes with him- Harry's cousin, Dudley. The only reason she knew who he was was because all the teachers were on high alert that they had to watch him. So was Jinx- she wasn't going to let the idiot hurt her friends.

_Curses..._ she thought to herself, looking at Harry. Now that they were in _Physical_ Education, Dudley had even more reason to hurt Harry- or any of Harry's friends. Which meant her friends, too. _Oh well. I'll just have to hit him back._

Looking up, Jinx realized that the class had started and that a rather irritating, perky blonde lady had taken her place in front of them. It was obvious that she was the P.E teacher, and it was obvious that Jinx was going to hate her for as long as the year progressed. She had blonde, long hair and a full-of-happiness smile that made her cringe. "Hi!" She started her introduction with. Jinx tuned her out- her voice made her want to gag. Instead, she focused on the people around her- all of them were either tuning the teacher out or looking at her with looks of absolute adoration on their faces. You could divide those groups into most of the girls and most of the guys. There were almost no exceptions.

Finally, when her flow of words stopped, Jinx looked up. "Okay! Today we will be playing dodge ball! Normal rules apply, everyone! PLEASE DO NOT HURT ANYONE!" Then, with that, Ms.Perky (the only name Jinx knew for her; she had completely tuned her out by the time she said her name) was off, running to her office as soon as she set up the balls and blew her whistle to start the game. Jinx ran for a ball, noticing that the class had already split into two separate groups. Sighing with relief, she realized that she was still on her friends side. She picked a ball and beamed it at the nearest person she didn't like- a girl who had spent most of her Science class talking... and talking... and talking... and TALKING about a boy in their Social Studies class- another class the two had together. She had short, lightly colored hair and light blue eyes. Jinx didn't like her at all.

"Hey!" The girl shrieked, insulted. Jinx rolled her eyes and caught the next ball thrown at her. Looking around, she saw that Harry and Ron were holding their own- but Hermoine didn't know what to do against anyone. She dodged the balls fine, but didn't know the rules. Jinx sighed and nailed another person with the ball.

"Hermoine!" She called, avoiding another ball being thrown at her. "Grab the balls and through them at the other team!" Hermoine didn't seem to understand, but she nodded anyway and went out to find a ball. Jinx, occupied at making sure Hermoine knew what she was doing and didn't get hurt, was almost hit in the side by a ball. Turning to see who had thrown it, she groaned- Dudley. She's be damned if he got her out.

Picking up a ball, she threw it at him and wasn't surprised at all when he couldn't dodge it- whether it be because of his weight or his massive size. Waving at him and sticking out her tongue she jogged over to Harry and leaned on his back. "Jinx?" Harry asked, turning to look at her.

Jinx shrugged, getting up once Dudley was sitting out. "Nothing. Just getting a little look at the game."

"Jinx, are you doing any work?" Jinx looked up to see Hermoine looking down at her. She groaned.

"Hermoine, this is study hall. The teacher doesn't even care enough to be here. Why are you hovering?" And so it was true. Ms. Apple, the study hall teacher, had left after getting them all set. Some how, Jinx didn't think she'd be back anytime soon. The twins, who had somehow gotten fixed with study hall this period, in their class, grinned over at Jinx. Fred gave her a thumbs up.

"Jinx! Don't say that! Come on- it's only been five minutes-" Before Hermoine could finish her sentence, the door opened. Jinx groaned loudly as Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle entered the class.

Draco looked over at the source of the groaned and sneered, walking over to the back, where Harry, Ron, Hermoine and Jinx were sitting. "Granger," He sneered. "It's no surprise you're here. But who's this?" He looked at Jinx and Jinx stared blankly back. Was he joking? He HAD to know who she was. It was kind of pathetic if he had forgotten.

Then she remembered. She had had to dye her hair that morning- well, actually, Hermoine had put a charm on it that would last for most of the year. Her hair was still waist length, but it was a dark brown, and slightly wavy. Because of the way it now looked, Jinx had given herself a hair cut and layered her hair while giving herself side sweep bangs. Her eyes- as oddly colored as they were- had been changed with another charm that made them look black at a distance. But up close, there was no denying the fact that her eyes were red-gold. She opened her mouth to speak, but couldn't think of what to say. What did she want to say to Malfoy? Nothing. So she went back to her half sleep on the desk.

"Who is this, Potter?" Malfoy asked. _Didn't know he cared so much, _Jinx thought darkly. But before anyone could say anything, Fred and George spoke up. Jinx knew they should have kept their twin mouths shut as soon as they opened them.

"That? That's Jenny. What, you don't have her in any of your classes? That's too bad. She's from RavenClaw. Same year as you three." Jinx slammed her head onto the desk. Why did they have to say anything?

She was about to speak up and say that there was no Jenny from RavenClaw in their year, at least not as far as she knew, but Malfoy grabbed her hand and pulled her up. He smiled and his eyes lit up. "I'm Draco Malfoy," He said smoothly. Fred, George, Harry, Ron and even Hermoine busted out laughing. Malfoy looked around dumbly.

Pulling her hand away from him and wiping it on her uniform, she stifled a gag. "The twins are idiots," She mumbled sitting back down.

"What-" Malfoy started, but he looked at her face more closely and his face unraveled into disgust. "Jinx? Is that her? She looks so..." He sat down, his mask of disgust falling for a second and Jinx could have sworn he was embarrassed. "She looks nothing like herself."

Yawning and trying to cover up any of the moments relapse, she shrugged. "Of course I don't look anything like myself. I had to make myself look more..." She thought for a second. "Muggle-like? Hm." She forged deep thought then shrugged again and tried at another attempt at sleeping. She still had about a half hour left. Not that the people _around _her planned on letting her carry out her plans.

"Draco, why don't you just go throw yourself down a well?" Hermoine. She could tell by the exasperation. And the accompanied sound of a pencil stopping in, most likely, mid-sentence.

"Shut up, you filthy mudblood," Malfoy sneered. _Why does he always sneer, anyway?_ Was all Jinx could manage to think at the time. That and why 'mudblood' seemed to be the only thing he could manage to say. Thick head.

"Bloody hell," She knew _that_ was Ron. "Malfoy, all you have to do is MOVE."

"And all your father has to do to actually be respected in the magical world is stop being such a muggle lover, but he won't do that either, will he?" Malfoy sneered in return. _There he goes sneering again._ She didn't need to hear the multiple curses and threats and the other noise that was most likely a chair over turning to know that Ron had tried to... assault Malfoy and Harry and Hermoine had held him back as the two oafs that Malfoy used as bodyguards had stood up to protect the little weasel.

"STOP IT," Jinx groaned, lifting her head and opening her eyes. She glanced at the clock and cursed. "Perfect. Your arguing has ruined my attempt at a nap. Now I have to wait until to tomorrow to get a good try at another nap during the school day." She glared at Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle. "That is, I'll have to wait until I'm out of earshot of you idiots before I can even think about sleeping." Stretching, she stood up and looked over at the clock at the front of the room. "I have 15 minutes. You idiots spent 15 minutes arguing?" She shook her head, then grabbed her backpack. "Anyone game?"

Ron and Harry tilted their heads to the side. Hermoine shook her head. "Jinx, don't you dare."

"Dare what?" Ron asked. "What's she going to do?" Harry looked at her intently.

Jinx laughed. "Well... I'm going to test how well this school can supervise their students." Shouldering her bag, she headed for the door, calling over her shoulder, "Though I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who brought some good clothes."

With that, she opened the door and walked out into the empty hallway. Looking down every other hall, she couldn't find the bathroom. "What type of school IS this?" She mumbled to herself. "No bathroom? That's wonderful. Now I have to sneak out in THIS." She snapped her jacket around her waist. Then she heard someone laugh behind her.

Startled, she turned around and was about ready to take out her wand and hex the idiot when she saw a tall, blonde haired boy leaning against the wall. She froze and tilted her head to the side. "And who do I have the pleasure of meeting in the hallway, 10 minutes before school ends?"

He laughed again and walked forward, holding out his hand. "I'm Kingston. You're one of the new exchange students, aren't you?" He smiled at her and she felt temporarily blinded. His teeth were too white, just like his hair was too white-blonde- thinking about it, she recognized it as the hair that Draco had. It was just longer and looked better on Kingston. He wasn't as deathly pale and he didn't _sneer_ everything he said. He was lankily built and his blue eyes were _way _too bright.

She took his hand and shook it, letting go quickly. "Yeah, I'm an exchange student." She grinned. "You think I'd be here other wise?"

He grinned back. "Well, seeing as they only allow the girls who happen to be exchange students come here when this is an all boys school, I guess you wouldn't be here on any other account." His eyes twinkled for a second. "But, hey, what are you doing in the halls before school-" Before he could finish the sentence, the end of school bell rang. The students flooded out of the classrooms and Jinx sank into the crowd, calling back, "Well, I'm not in the halls before school ends anymore." Then she turned and walked out through the main doors.


	4. Whats For Dinner?

Jinx looked around the garden, pulling her jacket closer around her shoulders. It had been a rather bad call to decide to spend the last of her free time before dinner outside, in the garden that the school barely kept in check. She had used the scissors in her backpack to trim some of the rose bushes- they had always been her favorite flower. Then she'd given up and just sat on the fountain, listening to the water trickle up and out of the tall spout. And she thought about everything that had happened that day.

After school, she hadn't really done anything- she'd changed and went to the dorm room to find everyone already there. They had asked her what she had done, and, she'd told them exactly what she had done- nothing. But, because of HERMOINE, she had stayed for about an hour to do imaginary homework that consisted of actually labeling all their things and making sure they had all their supplies- the things that teachers told you to do at the beginning of the year that no one ever actually does. No one, that is, but Hermoine, and everyone else she could suck into the process. The twins had left before having to do anything. _Lucky bastards..._ Jinx thought, laughing quietly to herself. Looking up, she saw how dark it was getting and stood up, grabbed her things, and decided to walk in and get ready for dinner.

"Leaving already, Cinderella?" Jinx stopped, recognizing the voice.

"Well, I suppose the similarities are few," She mused, turning around. "But it helps that your name is _King_ston." Kingston laughed and walked around the fountain to stand next to her.

"Okay... that makes it easier for me to tell you that you can just call me King. Everyone else does."

Jinx rolled his eyes. "Big headed?" He laughed again, and she felt weird. It seemed all she could do was make him laugh, and it was hard to tell whether he was laughing at her or at what she was saying to him. She decided to let it go.

"Well, you did leave without a trace," He pointed out. She rolled her eyes and started walking, noticing that he kept pace.

"Well maybe you were boring me," She challenged, looking up at him.

"Well maybe you're just too hard to keep entertained," he shot back. "But really-" Once again, before he could finish, she flung the school doors open and sunk into the crowd, calling back, "And the amazing girl disappears once again."

Laughing, she walked into the dining hall, following the flow of people. _Wow,_ she marveled. _A lot of the regular students here must board as well._

Looking for her friends, she didn't think she could find them in a place so huge. But, smiling at her luck, she caught up with Fred and George, then Hermoine, then finally Harry and Ron. "Where were you?" Fred asked, raising an eyebrow.

Jinx shrugged. "No where. Why?"

"No reason..." He mumbled. George nudged him and he nudged back.

"What, were you two looking for me or something?" Jinx marveled at the thought. They had always said that they had 'better things to do than spend time with her doing nothing'. Ron snickered and Fred and George both turned to throw him an acid glare. Interesting.

"No, we have better things to do than spend time with you doing nothing," they both said at the same time. _Pah, _Jinx thought. _I thought so._

"Fine," she snapped. "Then I'll go get my dinner and eat somewhere else."

"No," Hermoine grabbed her arm. "Nooo... then I'd have to eat with THEM. Please?"

Jinx made a big deal of rolling her eyes, but agreed. It wasn't like she had anywhere else to eat anyway... except maybe outside, but who knows? Maybe there were already people out there. The last thing she wanted was to get caught in a group of people she didn't know.

Once the group had their dinner, they sat at a round table, far in the back of the dining hall. "Well, this is interesting," Harry said, poking at his food with his fork. "What is it?"

Ron shrugged. "It doesn't look very edible, does it?"

Hermoine rolled her eyes. "Are you two joking? Of course it's edible." She looked at it for a second. "It's just sandwiches. Not much of a dinner food, but okay. Cut that out!" Hermoine snapped, her attention going to the twins, who were disassembling their sandwiches and throwing the pieces at each other. They stopped and stared at her as she grabbed the stray pieces and reassembled their sandwiches. "Don't play with your food," she said sternly, trying to feed Fred his sandwich. George had gotten scared and started eating his as soon as Hermoine dropped it on his plate.

"Cut that out, Hermoine," Fred mumbled, backing away from her. "I'm not eating that." Hermoine dropped it in disgust and rolled her eyes.

"Fine. Starve. It'll look mighty good when your starving for food a few days from now." Fred just stood up, George and Lee Jordan following.

"Whatever. I'm done with dinner. I think I'll turn in early for the night." The three waved good night to the group and started walking back to their dorm, grumbling about not being tired enough today to ignore Crabbe and Goyels snoring. Jinx rolled her eyes and picked at her sandwich, making a salad with the lettuce and tomatoes, and chopping the meat and the bread into small pieces. She skewered them with toothpicks and ate her dinner like that.

"Interesting dinner, Jinx," Hermoine stared at her dinner, raising an eyebrow. "Very... sophisticated?"

Jinx finished off her salad and started on the skewers. "Yup," she laughed. "Sophisticated dinner for a Jinx. That's so..."

"Nice to meet you." Jinx's skin crawled as she turned in her seat to look up at Harry's fat, stupid cousin. He was staring at Hermoine, who looked about ready to retch. Turning fully in her seat, she saw that even this kid had friends- one of which, she noticed was staring at her.

"Could you BE more rude?" She asked sarcastically, standing to leave. She pushed her plate into the other boys hands. "I don't think I have much of an appetite anymore. Do you have any left, Hermoine?"

"No. I do think that I'll be leaving with you." She pushed her own food away and stood to leave with Jinx. Harry and Ron were quick to follow.


	5. Teacher, teacher

Jinx leaned back in her seat in Social Studies and stared at the door. Mr. Dillins wasn't in yet, apparently, and she was about ready to stand up and chop Malfoy's mouth off, he was SNEERING- again- at the other guys in the class- two of which were friends of Dudleys. Thomas something and Andrew something. Jinx wasn't sure what their last names were -nor was she sure is they were related, but they both had blue eyes, were small boned with black hair, so she was pretty sure that they were related somehow- but she was sure she didn't care. It wouldn't have bothered her as much if she hadn't heard him mention Hermoine and her.

"Yes, and that Granger girl, you should watch _her-"_

Jinx pushed herself up at the same time that Hermoine stood and grabbed her jacket. Jinx shrugged it off and grabbed a first full of Malfoys uniform. "Malfoy, say another word, just _another word-_" And then the door opened. And in walked... not Mr. Dillins.

"Please, all of you, SIT." The... teacher?... snapped. Jinx looked over her shoulder at him. She listened to no one.

Draco, Crabbe, Goyel and the two other boys sat down, Jinx letting go of Malfoys shirt. She knew that face.

Kingston?

----

Yes, yes, I know it's short, and I know it's not really well written, but I promise to give you a better chapter soon. XP


	6. Stop Overacting, Hermoine

After Jinx had sat down, she couldn't stop wondering if the person teaching her were Kingston.

The teacher had the same lanky build and the same white-blonde hair. Though he hadn't smiled all through class, which Jinx wasn't all that surprised about, she could tell that he probably had white teeth. Same facial features. Almost.

There was a scar from the top of his right cheek to the corner of his mouth.

Jinx raked her mind all through class with the same questions- why did she bother caring about whether or not this was Kingston? She hadn't even told him her name yet. It's not like it was all that shocking if it were- he probably didn't remember her. She almost started to laugh. That morning had been when she'd finally snapped about the stupid dress code.

"_I will not be made to change the way I look because a bunch of high strung idiots think that 'natural' is so one dimensional." _Before Hermoine could say anything, she had changed her hair back and refused to let anyone else touch it.

_"You have to admit, Hermoine," _Harry had chuckled, _"It matches her more than anything else in the world would."_

R I N G.

Jinx snapped awake. The bell. She had just zoned out.Grabbing her things, she shouldered her bag and waited for Hermoine at the door, who had decided to ask the new teacher about the plan for the rest of the year.

"Planning on running away again, Cinderella?" She heard a familiar voice ask lazily.

"Well, now that you mention it-" before she could even finish the sentence, King had grabbed her arm and was staring at her.

"Okay," he said, smirking. "I finally caught you. Three wishes, right?"

Jinx laughed- the guy had a way of making the stupidest things sound hilarious. "Um, sorry, I'm not a leprachaun. Or a genie for that matter. But you should try that mouse-looking kid with the white-blonde hair. Deadly pale, always sneering. Can't miss him."

"Fine then, at least tell me your name."

Hermoine had finally come out once he'd said that and was tugging Jinx along, muttering about being late and needing to get to their next class. "Looks like you'll have to wait," she called, smirking, over her shoulder, as Hermoine complained about how the teacher wouldn't tell her what the lesson was going to be.

--

"Hermoine, he probably just doesn't have it planned out yet," Jinx said for the thousandth time. Hermoine had been talking about how their Social Studies teacher had been the only teacher not to tell them what was going to be coming up. All day, up until Study Hall, she'd heard the SAME PROBLEM repeated... and repeated... and repeated... AND REPEATED... over and over with bigger words, longer sentences, and rephrased meanings. All of it led back to the main sentence:

"_HE IS SO INCOMPETENT!"_ Honestly, Jinx had decided that she had nothing against the guy. After that first blow out, he'd left her alone. In fact, he seemed to like Hermoine, who was the only one who was enthusiastic about the class- everyone else hadn't even fiend interest. These points, like the first point ("He probably just doesn't have it planned out yet") had been repeated to Hermoine every time she brought the topic up. By now even Harry and Ron, who didn't seem to like the teacher for some reason, agreed with Jinx- there was absolutely nothing to be mad about.

"It's just the philosophy of the thing!" She grumbled, stacking more of her books up on her desk. "He should have his lesson planned out already! It should be down! Finished! READY! He should have been prepared for the question!"

"Honestly, Hermoine, I'd prefer he not have it planned," Jinx said, leaned back in her chair and closing her eyes to ignore Hermoines unbelieving stare. "Then I have less work and he has less papers to grade- it's a win-win thing."

"Jinx! We're supposed to be learning here! How are we supposed to learn with a teacher who doesn't even know what he'll be teaching for the next year?!"

"Hermoine." Fred grabbed her by the shoulders. "Calm down, already. Personally, I think that he teaches the most boring subject here- the mirror image of History of Magic. Did you pay attention THEN, Hermoine? I mean, did you honestly care about the next lesson then?"

Jinx groaned. "You had to go there, didn't you, Fred? Just had to."

She had barely finished speaking before Hermoine blew up.

"Fred! Of course I cared about the lessons then! How can you say something like that? You didn't care? I mean, not that that's not to be expected from YOU, but still, I mean, how can you just go around saying blatant things like that? What if you were the teacher-"

George grabbed Fred by the back of his shirt before he could totally pass out. "Me? Teacher? Hermoine, LISTEN TO YOURSELF! This school is driving you insane!"

Hermoine just turned away and buried herself in another book, bustling to write notes. Jinx rolled her eyes and shouldered her bag- she had better things to do than sit around and listen to Fred try to talk sense into Hermoine, whom clearly wanted nothing to do with the word 'sense' at the moment. "See you all later," she mumbled, standing and walking out the door. Down the hall, she walked up and down the corridors, frustrated that she STILL couldn't find the bathroom. "Two days, and still no sight of a ruddy bathroom," she mumbled under her breath, still searching for a bathroom.

An instant before he grabbed her from behind, she knew he was there. But an instant wasn't soon enough to stop it.

--

"LET ME GO," she shouted, still struggling. She had no idea who had grabbed her, clamped a hand over her mouth and dragged her outside, but he was pretty strong to keep up this long without her teeth tearing him to shreds, in nothing else. "Who the hell are you to grab me?"

A laugh. And she knew who it was instantly. "Kingston? Kingston, let go of me RIGHT NOW, or I will tear your liver out with my teeth, I swear."

Finally letting her go, King laughed and spun her around to face him. Jinx, disheveled and irritated, glared at him. "Sorry, Cinderella, but I needed to make sure you didn't run away this time without so much as a glass slipper." Brushing a few strands of white-blonde hair out of his face, he beamed, blinding her again. "But now that that's settled, can you please tell me your name?"

"And why would you care to know my name, Knight in Shining Tinfoil?"

"So I can stalk you back to your dorm room and kidnap your friends."

Jinx rolled her eyes. "Very educated."

King laughed. "By this schools standards, yes, but that's against the point."

"I refuse to tell you until you tell me why you want to know."

"But I just did- it's not my fault you didn't want to except the answer."

Jinx rolled her eyes. "Fine then. My name is Alexandra Brutice."

"Tell me the truth."

"Tell me the truth."

King rolled his eyes, but obliged. "Okay, maybe I find you funny and would like to get to know you. I cannot get to know you without knowing your name, Cinderella."

Jinx rolled her eyes again, but smiled. "My, have you got a way with words."

"So I've been told."

Jinx opened her mouth the say her name, but instead of her name, she shouted a curse. Someone had just tackled her.

"Hey- what- get off of her-" she could hear King trying to pry whoever had tackled her off and smiled. For someone she had just met, he was actually really rather nice- it was nice knowing that people cared whether or not you got tackled.

"My God! Stop trying to pull me off already- I know her!" Jinx turned over to look into the angry eyes of Ron.

"Ron? RON! Get off of me! Why do you look so irritated? RON GET OFF!" Ron stumbled off of her, and, before she could say anything else, got a single sentence out:

"HERMOINE'S GOING ON A DATE WITH A MUGGLE!!!!"

----------

DUN DUN DUN!!!! Heh heh, as I promised, folks- soon, better written, longer.


	7. The Date

"Thank you so much, Jinx! Oh, how can I ever thank you? Thank you!" Hermoine was hugging the breath out of Jinx, who was struggling to get her friend to let go.

"By not crushing me, Hermoine."

"Oh... sorry..." Jinx sucked in a loud breath as Hermoine let her go, still beaming. It was Saturday afternoon and Jinx and Hermoine were preparing for their 'double date'. _My God, _Jinx thought, looking over at the shining image that was her friends face. _What have I gotten myself into?_

-Flash Back Sequence-

_"Jinx, PLEASE?" Hermoine begged. Jinx sighed and turned to carefully avoid her friends pleading face._

_"Hermoine, even if I said yes, which I won't, and even if I DID date, which I don't, and even if I thought that this date would be even mildly fun, which I REALLY don't, who would I go with, Hermoine?" Jinx put down the book she had been reading and dared to look up at Hermoine skeptically. She knew it was a mistake as soon as she got a glimpse of how desperate her friend looked. But then, luckily, her face screwed up into, thank God, a Hermoine-Thinking look._

_"Well..." Her face brightened instantly. "I think I have an idea! The next person who walks into the dorm- we'll ask them. Please, Jinx, please?"_

_Jinx sighed and leaned back. "Alright, but they have to agree and it has to be someone I DON'T hate." Hermoine nodded eagerly and leaned against the bed frame equally as eagerly. Jinx stared up at the clock on the wall. "Hermoine, someone better come soon, I'm so bored-"_

_Then, of course, the door opened and in walked-_

_"Fred, George, who walked in first?" Hermoine leapt off the bed and rushed over to the twins, while Jinx dove under her bed._

_"Why?" Fred asked, while George knelt by the bed and tried to pull Jinx out from under it. "I did. But why?"_

_Hermoine beamed. "Fred, can you do me a huge, huge favor?"_

_Fred looked from the bed- where George was still trying to pull Jinx out from under it- and then back at Hermoine, then between them again. "Hermoine, what's going on?"_

_Hermoine rolled her eyes at Jinx, who was holding onto a bed post to stay under the bed. "Look, you probably already know, but I'm going out with a muggle on Saturday, and-"_

_"Already know?" Fred and George said, both at the same time. "Ron was ranting about it in our room as soon as he came back from telling Jinx! We had to kick him out of the room!" Fred paused. "What do you want me for?"_

_Hermoine beamed once again, forgetting about Ron. "Will you go on a double date with me and Andrew? With Jinx?" Fred stood, stunned for a moment, George let go of Jinx in his surprise, and Jinx scrambled back into the shadows under the bed. Fred looked between the bed and Hermoine, then back again and again. Then he started laughing._

_"My... God... oh... oh..." he choked out between his laughs. Doubled over, he laughed for another 5 minutes, George joining in with him. Straightening and stifling the last of his laugh, he grinned stupidly and knelt by the bed to pull Jinx out. With Hermoine and George helping him, they finally got her out and held her arm to make sure she wouldn't go back under the bed. Hooking his arm in hers, he said, his voice thick with laughter, "I would be HONORED to take you out, Jinx."_

-End of Flash Back-

George and Fred had been dogging her on it for the past two days, they had said that they hoped she was 'looking forward to her date' and other things like that. It was driving her insane as well as murder-capable.

Now, two days later, at 8 P.M, she was out in the hall, waiting impatiently for Hermoine to get out of the room. Once she did get out, though, Jinx had to smile- Hermoine was practically glowing. She had done her hair, made it straight and pulled it into a twist at the back of her head. Makeup- of all things- was brushed lightly on her face, adding to the overjoyed smile she had on. She was wearing a white off the shoulder sweater with a red tank top under it along with a jeans skirt that went down to her knees and her usual sandals.

"You look great, Hermoine," Jinx said, smiling. Hermoine beamed at her.

"Yeah, you look great, too." Jinx laughed- she really hadn't put much thought into anything. Her hair was up in a bun at the back of her head, held by chopsticks, and, because she had framed it, the strands too shorts fell in to frame her face. She had grabbed the first thing came out of her closet (and she had a feeling that Hermoine had been involved in this), which were a black off the shoulder sweater and a dark purple t-shirt, along with cargo pants and her usual boots. Fending off Hermoine, who had gone insane and asked her if she wanted any makeup, she had just tied a red ribbon around her neck. Next to Hermoine, she thought she looked shocking, if not underdressed and overly casual.

"Hermoine are you-" she was going to ask whether she was certain she could go through with this when a muggle boy- who she could only expect was Andrew- came up behind Hermoine, smiling. He was wearing casual clothes, cut offs and a t-shirt with tennis shoes, and he looked okay enough. Curly brown hair and a small dash of freckles scattered over his nose with dark brown eyes. And he looked genuinely interested in being here- a fact Jinx was grateful for. She really didn't want to have to hurt anyone tonight.

"Hey, Hermoine," He said, smiling at her. Hermoine smiled back and laughed self-consciously.

"Hey, Andrew. I didn't see you come up. So... um..."

Both had run out of things to say, which seemed classic to Jinx, who chuckled, drawing herself attention from Andrew. "Hey, where's her date? I thought this was going to be a double date with you, me, her and- er- which one of the twins...?"

"Fr-" Before Jinx could get the name out, though, she cursed loudly. Someone had just picked her up from behind bridal-style and it was a bit too close for her liking. "PUT ME DOWN _RIGHT NOW_." Apparently she would still have to hurt her _date._

"Ah, come on, _sweetie,_" She cursed even louder at the sound of Fred's voice. Swinging her leg -and thanking God that she had worn pants- she dug her boot momentarily into Fred's side, who dropped her.

Getting up and brushing herself off, she hissed, "Never touch me like that again! And YOU of all people should know my name's Jinx, not 'sweetie'!"

Fred got up, holding his side. "Aw, come on, it was just a joke, Jinx," he said, laughing. "And it's one of the only ones that you are affected by, I see. I must talk to George..." Jinx glared at Fred, but finally noticed what he was wearing as well- a black collared shirt and jeans with a black jacket. Surprisingly enough, it actually looked good on him.

"Are they always like this?" Jinx heard Andrew ask in the background. She could hear Hermoine snickering.

"Yeah, pretty much. It's a dysfunctional relationship- but that works for them. Jinx snapped around to glare at Hermoine, who shrunk momentarily and laughed. "Okay, okay, you win. They just started going out, Andrew, but they've been friends for a while."

Not bothering to correct Hermoine, Jinx sighed. "So- er- now that everyone's here, shouldn't we get going?"

Fred laughed and put his arm around Jinx's shoulders (this after she had threatened to rip his arm out of it's socket when he put his arm around her waist). "I think... Andrew, we decided on dinner and a movie, right?" Jinx raised an eyebrow at Fred. The idea seemed to tame to be his. His idea of a date was more than likely something that would involve danger and a lot of laughs- and, though Jinx would never admit to it, that was seriously what she had wanted. _But,_ she reasoned with herself, _I never wanted to be here, so it's not like it matters one way or the other._

"Yeah. Hermoine, I hope you don't mind horror movies," Andrew said, smiling down at Hermoine. It was then that Jinx was painfully aware that Andrew was two inches taller than Hermoine, and Fred (even though Jinx was actually taller than her Hermoine) towered over her. No matter how long she had known the twins, she never realized that they were so... tall. "We're seeing Madness Through Mayhem. That's okay, right?"

Hermoine looked at him a bit uneasily before smiling. "Yeah, that's fine..." she looked over at Jinx, who shrugged.

"I like horror movies. You know that." In fact, now that she thought about it... "Hey, who suggested the movie?"

Andrew raised an eyebrow curiously, but answered anyway. "Fred. Er- that is your name, right?"

Fred laughed. "Yes, Andy. That's my name." Jinx looked up at Fred carefully and smiled, surprising them both. She had told him that she wanted to see that movie the day after they had gotten their first free day at the muggle school. Fred had promised to see it with her. Tugging on her arm and dragging her back to reality, she realized that they were all walking down to someone's care.

"Okay... everyone in?" Andrew asked. Jinx rolled her eyes. The guy was nice, but cheesy. Of course they were all in- the girls in the back, Andrew driving and Fred sitting shot gun. "Okay then..."

While the boys sat in the front seat talking about everything from tennis (Andrew's topic) to dragon venom (Fred's topic), Jinx and Hermoine talked in the back.

"He's so cute," she gushed, sneaking glances at her date. As if Jinx would mistake it for her thinking that Fred was cute. "Even the way he asked me was cute, Jinx... he's a cute person."

Jinx raised an eyebrow. "Hey, you never told me how he asked you, ya know."

Hermoine's face- if it was even possible- lit up even more. "I didn't? Oh, Jinx, it was just so... great. He slipped a note into my book, saying that he thought that Mr. Silvermen was a horrible teacher, too, for not having his lesson planned out. Then... then he asked!" Hermoine had to keep her voice down because of the next squeal. Jinx looked away- it was torture seeing one of her best friends like this.

"We're here," Andrew said happily as Jinx tried harder to ignore her friend- still mooning over her date- and get out of the car. Looking at the restaurant she shifted nervously from foot to foot. No matter how casual she knew the date between her and Fred were (if it could even be considered a 'date'- she was just here because Hermoine had asked her to come and Fred had dogged her about it all week), one look at the restaurant told her that it was high class- something that she would never have gone near if she had had her choice.

"What's wrong?" Fred asked quietly, his arm around her shoulders once again. She didn't shrug it off at first.

"It's too high class..." she said stiffly. She glanced over at Hermoine, who glowed, and Andrew, who looked like he was enjoying basking in the light of her glow. Jinx sighed. "But I'm the only one that looks likely to cause trouble, so there's no way around it." Walking into the restaurant and following Hermoine and Andrew to their seats, the two 'couples' sat across from each other.

Jinx leaned against the wall and looked at the moon, feeling a little better now that no one had commented on her choice of dress or her odd hate of anything that seemed... too prefect.

"Miss? Miss, what will you be having?"

"Huh?" Jinx turned around and smiled up at the person waiting them, though not really seeing him. She glanced at the menu, picked the first cheap thing that she saw on it and handed the menu back to him.

"Okay... then that will be all for this group?" He asked. Everyone nodded. He looked like he was about to turn around, then paused. "Er- Miss? Could you take your hood down? Indoors," he quickly added. Jinx, realizing that she had, at one point, pulled a jacket on, took it off and folded it in her lap.

"There, is that good enough for you?" She asked, turning to look at the waiter and seeing him for the first time. She grimaced at a silent groan to see who it was.

Kingston. And he still didn't know her name.

--

"Who was that?" Fred asked. This time, on the way to the movies, Fred had offered to sit in the back with Jinx so Hermoine could sit by Andrew- which both hastily thanked Fred for.

Jinx shrugged. "A guy at school. Muggle. Why?"

Fred looked out the window and mumbled something about how he was looking at her all through the meal. Jinx just laughed.

"Nah, he doesn't even know my name," she said comfortingly. Fred rolled his eyes, but smiled.

"Looking forward to the movie?" He asked as they came to a stop and got out of the car. Jinx laughed.

"I told you I wanted to see the movie," she pointed out as they walked in. Andrew and Hermoine seemed to have totally forgotten they were there, which was fine with the two of them. Now it was just a friendly trip to the movies.

Buying the tickets and walking into the theater, Fred and Jinx took the seats behind Hermoine and Andrew and were talking like they usually did when Jinx's phone started to ring. Rolling her eyes and setting it to vibrate, she flipped it open... to a picture text.

From Ron.

_Wat is she doing?! Is tht guy DOING anthing 2 her?!_ Jinx groaned and showed the text to Fred, who laughed.

_NO, Ron, they aren't doing anything. We're in a movie. SHUT UP._

A pause. Jinx sighed and put her phone away, feeling confident that Ron had decided to shut up about how Hermoine had decided to date. Then, _BUT THT MEANS ITS DARK!!!! HOW DO U NO NUTHINS HAPPENIN?_

Jinx rolled her eyes and tossed the phone to Fred. "Your turn," she whispered. Fred looked at it for a moment, then started to grin- devilishly. "What are you thinking?" Jinx asked cautiously.

Once the lights dimmed and the previews rolled, though, Fred turned on the camera on her phone, pulled her closer until her mouth was about an inch from his. "Don't... move..." He whispered, taking the picture. Moving away and looking at the picture Jinx laughed quietly. He'd turned off the flash and and it looked like they were kissing- or someone was kissing.

Fred sent it to Ron and turned her phone off. "Now we can watch the movie like I promised," he said, smiling. "And then we get to go home to see how little Ronnie reacted to the picture."

--

"HERMOINE, I KNOW YOU DID SOMETHING WITH THAT GUY!" Ron blew up. Jinx, Fred, George and Harry stood on the side, watching the two through insults and accusations. "I KNOW YOU TWO WERE OUT THERE! JUST THINKING ABOUT HOW EVERYONE HERE WAS WORRIED! SO YOU DECIDED TO DO SOMETHING! ADMIT IT!" Ron looked absolutely crazy at the moment and it just made everything more comical. His flaming red hair made it look like he was literally on fire yelling at Hermoine.

Hermoine looked at him, her face completely red from anger and embarrassment. "YOU ARE SO CHILDISH," she shouted, walking to the bathroom and slamming the door. Ron looked after her, growing even more frustrated.

"What does she mean, I'M CHILDISH?!" He shouted. Then he slumped onto his bed and sighed. Turning over, he mumbled, "You'd think she'd not want to cheat with things still going on with _VICKY..."_

Jinx rolled her eyes while everyone else burst into fits of laughter. "That's a low blow, Ron."


	8. Kingston

"Wake up..." Jinx groaned and flipped over, hoping that whoever the hell was bothering her would get the message and leave her alone. "C'mon... wake up..." No such luck. "C'mon, Cinderella... _wake up..._"

Jinx opened one eye and sleepily looked up into the glowing face of King. Groaning and flipping over again, she mumbled, "You're face is too bright. And it's Saturday. Leave me alone."

King laughed and sat down on the side of her bed, flicking his head to get his hair out of his face. "Come on, you're not even remotely interested in how I got in here?" He asked, a teasing, amused edge in his voice. That got Jinx's attention.

"How the hell did you get in here, King?" She asked, sitting up and yawning. Rubbing her right eye and stretching her left arm, she glanced at his amused face. "By the way, stalker, this isn't funny."

King shrugged and got up. "Well," he started, "Harry- well, I think that's his name, anyway... I think he's in my Social Studies class- let me in when I said that you left something at the restaurant last night." Jinx silently cursed Harry into oblivion- then she looked around and groaned. Everyone was gone. The shades for the windows were all drawn and almost no light was getting in, but everyone was gone. _So much for spending the day with my friends, _she thought acidly, though she hadn't been planning to do that. She was actually going to go down to a store and get a camera. She had always wanted to take pictures of the sunset. He smirked at her. "And it's not like I didn't tell you that I was going to stalk you back to your dorm." He laughed quietly and smiled at her. _That smile is inhumanly bright._ "Anyway, I was going to ask if you were doing anything today."

Jinx looked up at him, quirking an eyebrow. He rolled his eyes and nudged her shoulder. "Well, I was going to ask you before, but someone _interrupted,"_ He said. "However, if you were planning to sleep all day..." With a flourish, he tugged on a cord by the window and slid the blinds away. Every corner of the room was drowned in light. Hissing, Jinx dove under her blanket.

"There's just no getting rid of you, is there?" She asked, hearing his laughter, muffled out by the blanket.

"Nope."

Groaning, she pulled the blanket off and got up, stretched again, and yawned. "Fine, stalker, I guess I'm not doing anything. Why?"

King raised an eyebrow again and glanced at his watch. "Well, Ms.I'll-sleep-in-till-noon, would you like to come with me? I'm gonna go get lunch, mess around till six, then go see my parents. I need to get something from the house." He laughed. "By the way, nice outfit."

Jinx flipped him off and grabbed some clothes, then slammed the bathroom door. Changing out of the tank top and shorts she had been wearing into a pair of combat boots, jeans and a baggy button-up long sleeved shirt, she pulled my hair into a loose ponytail, pulled on a hat and walked out to find him touching her C.D's.

Touching. Her. C.D's.

"Looking for something?" she asked, grabbing my backpack and slinging it over a shoulder. Then she ripped my C.D's out of his hands, put them into her bag, and walked over to the door. He looked up and grinned.

"You know, Jinx is a pretty cool name."

Flipping through her C.D's, she groaned. She had written my name on one of them. "You cheater."

He shrugged and got up. "Eh, at least I know your name now. By the way... how did you come across that name, anyway? It's not like someone would name their kid that, right?"

Jinx walked out the door and, once he was out, distracted herself by locking the door. "My real name's Rose. I just kinda... changed it."

King raised an eyebrow, but shrugged. "Okay. I think Jinx is a better fit anyway." Before she could say anything, he grabbed her hand and started dragging her down the hall. "Let's go get something to eat- I'm starving."

--

"My God, you eat like a hungry wolf, man," Jinx said as they walked out of the restaurant. King shrugged and wiped his hand across his mouth.

"Eh, it's not my fault that you don't eat as much as I do."

"You swallowed that burger whole."

King just shrugged and started walking backwards. "So, what do you want to do now?"

Jinx thought for a moment and sighed. "I think I should go buy that camera, like I planned."

"I thought you were planning on going somewhere with your friends," Jinx stuck her tongue out at him- they had been teasing each other back and forth all through lunch and it wasn't about to stop.

"Just because I said that doesn't mean that I was actually planning on doing it. Besides," she looked up and sighed. "I like art- and because I can't draw, I thought maybe I would be able to take pictures of things that have already been sculpted."

King's mouth dropped and he stopped walking. "You mean you can talk _nicely?_ Man, no wonder you didn't eat too much- you must have been poisoned or something!" Grabbing her shoulders and shaking her, he shouted, "YOU WILL BE OKAY!"

"Stop making a scene, you idiot!" Jinx hissed, pushing him away. She couldn't suppress the smile, though. "I'm fine. I can just have two sides, unlike _someone _I know."

King rolled his eyes and the two walked down to the camera shop, shoving each other and laughing the entire way.

--

"Okay, so you have a few shots and you got your camera. Now what?" King asked, leaning back against the tree. The two were in the park. Jinx turned around and snapped another photo of him.

"Well, it's almost six," she said, cutting off any argument that he had been about to say. "I thought you wanted to go see your parents. So I guess I'll just walk home and you can go see them."

"You don't honestly think you're gonna get off that easily, do you?" He asked, smirking. "Come on, you have to come meet them." Pulling her along, he started talking about his parents.

"Yeah, they're actually really awesome, if you get past the fact that they favor my brother," he said when she finally managed to get out of his grip. "And that they're really old school, but my dad's good at soccer and my mum is a great cook. I'd ask to stay for dinner, but I've got some plans for tomorrow." Seeming to just notice how distracted she looked, he stopped and looked at her, concerned. "Do you have a bad relationship with your parents or something? You look really sad."

"Nah... I never met my parents."

King cursed and ran a hand through his hair. "I never should have brought you along, huh?"

Jinx rolled her eyes and punched him playfully in the arm. "Don't get soft on me now, King."

Smirking, he laughed and started walking along, now talking about other things, when he finally stopped at a house. Jinx looked around and tilted her head- all the houses looked exactly the same. "How can you tell the difference?"

King laughed and pointed to a set of numbers. "Address." Pounding on the door, he shouted, "Mum, Dad, I need to go get some clothes. It's Kingston."

A woman, looking like she was in her mid forties, opened the door and hugged King. Jinx was guessing that the woman was his mother. "Kingston! My, you look so thin- are they feeding you okay at that school? Are you staying for dinner? Oh, my, you need clothes, right? Wait..." She looked over at Jinx, who had backed a little farther away from the door and was looking down awkwardly. The woman smiled warmly at her. "Who's this, Kingston?"

Jinx smiled awkwardly. "I'm Jinx..." she held out her hand nervously. "A friend of King's."

The woman shook her hand happily and smiled at King. "She's pretty," she said, winking. King turned about three shades of red. "You get your good taste from me, I hope you know."

"Mum..."

"Oh, and Kingston, your father left on another errand," she shook her head and sighed. "I swear, the man has the worst timing ever. But are you staying for dinner? Jinx can stay as well." She looked over at Jinx, who had been suppressing laughter at King's face, which was still growing more and more red.

"Sorry, mum. I need to get back to school and so does Jinx."

His mother's face fell. "Your brother's here," she said, trying to persuade him to stay. In Jinx's opinion, and she was just judging by the look on his face, that was a mistake. "Doesn't Caleb teach at your school?"

"Mum, I just need clothes. Seriously, we need to get back to school." His mother sighed, but stepped aside to let her son pass. King grabbed Jinx's arm and dragged her up to his room a long with him.

"Aw, come on, I want to go meet your mother."

King glowered at her. "You just met my mother."

Jinx chuckled and looked around his room. It was a mess- clothes were lying everywhere and his bed was hidden under a pile of stuff. "How do you sleep in here when you come home?" Jinx's room was perfectly spotless- but, then again, if you ever left anything there, they destroyed it, so it wasn't like it really mattered.

"I don't," he said simply, throwing a bunch of clothes, both dirty and clean, into a bag and slung it over his shoulder. "I normally sleep in the living room. It's more comfortable." Jinx chuckled again.

"So, are we-"

"King," she was interrupted by a very familiar sounding voice in the door way. King's face darkened.

"Kay."

Jinx turned around and her mouth dropped.

"Mr. Keller?" She turned around and looked at Kingston, shocked, but part of her felt like she had been expecting this. "My Social Studies teacher is your brother?!"


	9. Break Ups Grades and Disturbing Calls

"WHAT?!" Hermoine was outraged. Again. "That pathetic excuse for a teacher is RELATED to that guy you've been seeing lately?"

Jinx rolled her eyes and explained, for what seemed like the thousandth time, "Hermoine, I'm not 'seeing' him. He's just a friend that thinks that I'm mildly insane and happens to have fun with me on the weekends."

Hermoine, however, wasn't convinced in the slightest. "It's been, what, a month since we got in here, and-" Hermoine's eyes widened. "It's been a month since we got here!" She squealed. "The quarter ends TOMORROW." The other topic forgotten, Hermoine started shaking. "We get our term grades TOMORROW."

Jinx groaned- the two were sitting out in the school courtyard alone and grades were the last thing she wanted to be reminded of. "Ew. I hate getting my grades."

Hermoine looked at her as if she were insane. "What?!"

Jinx just shrugged and stood up. "I've gotta-" Before she could finish, though, a boy, slim with mousy brown hair, ran up to the two and handed Hermoine a slip of paper. Staring at everywhere, but Hermoine, nervously, he mumbled,

"From Andrew..." He muttered then turned on his heel as a bell tolled out the time for dinner. Hermoine, not registering the fact that the boy had looked so nervous, smiled and giggled like a maniac. Jinx sighed. Hermoine and Andrew had dating steadily since that first double date and, so far, Jinx hadn't had to go on another double date with the two, a fact for which she was happy about. Ron, on the other hand, had exploded. Without his brother and Hermoine's best friend there, who knew what the two could be doing? But, by now, they all knew that the only person that Ron protected more than Hermoine when it came to dating- and most anything else, for that matter- was Hermoine.

Jinx was pulled out of her thoughts by a loud sob next to her.

"What? What happened?" Jinx asked, patting Hermoine on the back. She could only hand Jinx the now tear splotched note:

_I think we should break up. Sorry._

_-Andrew._

Jinx ripped the paper to shreds, furious. "He couldn't even do it to your _face?!"_ She asked angrily, leading their way into the dining hall as Hermoine wiped down her face. "That son of a-"

"What happened to Hermoine?" Harry asked, coming up behind the two. Ron came up next and asked the same question, trying to console Hermoine as best he could.

After Jinx had explained the situation, Ron was speechless, his face bright red from anger. Harry was seething almost as much.

"Where's Fred and George?" Ron asked through clenched teeth. "I can get them to put a little something in his drink, and then from there, I can just go get a brick or something from outside in that run-down courtyard..."

"You can't do that, Ron," Hermoine said quietly, her face still splotchy and pale as the four sat down to eat their soup. Hermoine refused to look up. "There's no point in going for revenge- I should have noticed. It's all my fault."

"No one would miss him," Ron said, trying to persuade her into letting him. After a drawn out argument, going back and forth between Ron, Jinx and Harry to Hermoine, the three sat back, pouting.

"What's wrong with you three?" George asked, sitting down next to them.

"And what's wrong with Hermoine?" Fred asked, sitting opposite of Jinx. Jinx looked down into her soup and stared at it awkwardly for a few minutes- ever since that first weekend, Fred had been acting weird around her, and it was mildly pissing her off.

"Andrew broke up with her. His friend gave her the paper that said it."

"That sucks," George said, looking at Hermoine sympathetically.

"Little prat," Fred agreed, patting her (albeit awkwardly) on the back.

Hermoine sighed and got up, food untouched. "I think... thanks everyone. But I'm going to go... take a bath... and go to sleep..." Sighing, she walked back to the dorms. Jinx got up next and said quietly,

"I think I should go talk to her. No matter how little I know about this, at least I'm a girl." No one argued.

--

"I just... can't believe it..." Hermoine sniffed again, crying gently onto Jinx's shoulder. Of all the people to do something like this, she didn't expect it to be Hermoine. Especially the day before their grades came in.

"It's okay..." Jinx said soothingly, patting Hermoine on the back again and handing her another tissue. "He was a little-"

"But I knew that this would happen," Hermoine said quickly, cutting Jinx off. The last thing she really needed to hear was how horrible he was because, as it was, she had seen him with someone else in the dining hall. And she had restrained herself from telling any of her friends.

"No, you didn't," Jinx said, handing her another tissue. Hermoine just sighed and climbed into bed. Mumbling a good night to Jinx, she turned over and fell asleep.

--

"What did you guys get?" Ron asked, trying to get Hermoine's old problems off her mind. Jinx, Hermoine, Ron, Harry, Fred, George and Lee were in a circle in their dorm room, anticipating what they got. For Ron, Fred, George and Lee, it was their first time getting report cards, and they were all a little nervous about it- Hermoine was going through her usual stages of thinking that she failed everything, far too worried about her grades to worry about a loser like her ex-boyfriend- and Jinx and Harry didn't really care. Harry had always done okay in school- and Jinx didn't really care about her grades, but she knew that she did at least enough to get by.

Hermoine, hands shaking, tore open her envelope, sending everyone into a frenzy to see how they ended up doing. "Oh my..." She said quietly. Ron snatched her letter and rolled his eyes.

"Social Studies ... A, Science ... A , P.E ... A-, Math ... A , English ... A. Hermoine, are you complaining about these grades?"

Hermoine just _Hmph_ed and grabbed her paper. "Fine, Ron, what did you get?"

"Social Studies... C-. Science... B. P.E... A-. Math... C . English... C." Scanning the meaning of the letter grades, he rolled his eyes and stuffed the paper into his pocket. "I don't care."

Fred and George, getting the hang of it, went next.

"Let's see..." Fred said. "Social Studies... C. Science... A . P.E... A-. Math... C-. English... C-."

"I've got Social Studies... C. Science... A . P.E... A. Math... C. English.. C."

Hermoine raised an eyebrow at the two. "How did you two get A 's in Science?"

"When you experiment as much as us, it kind of rubs off on anything involving the subject."

"Figures..." Hermoine mumbled. "Harry, what did you get?"

"Social Studies... C-, Science... B, P.E... A . Math... B. English... B . Jinx, how did you do?"

Jinx shrugged and scanned the paper. "Social Studies... A. Science... B . P.E... A. Math... C . English... A . Nothing special." Looking at the bottom, though, she groaned and cursed. "The note at the bottom says to go see Caleb."

Everyone looked up at her curious. "Who?"

Avoiding their eyes, she stood up and mumbled, "Mr. Keller."

Hermoine looked at her letter again and stood as well, her face distorted in anger. "Yeah, me too." On the way to his office, Hermoine mumbled, "It's because I hate his class and you hang out with his brother. I know it."

Both stopped abruptly at his office, because he was leaning serenely against his door, blonde hair brushed back and blue eyes glinting in the light. Now that she had gotten to know both brothers, Jinx could understand why she hadn't recognized him, but she could see why, after seeing them both only once or twice, she had made the mix up. Both had the same features, only Caleb was taller and had shorter hair, according to school protocol for teachers.

"Please, Jinx, can you step in first? It will only be a second, Hermoine," he said, looking at Hermoine. Hermoine just shrugged and waited by the wall.

"Please, come inside," Caleb gestured into the room and, closing the door behind Jinx, sat down at the desk. "Well," he started, once she had sat down, "You scored top in my class."

"Yes. I could see that on the report card that summoned me here."

Caleb picked up a few paper and held them in front of his face for a second, but Jinx caught a glimpse of the smirk on his face. Five minutes after first talking to him, she had decided she understood exactly why King hated his brother.

_-Flashback-_

_"Why yes, Jinx, I'm your Social Studies teacher. He didn't tell you?" Jinx almost growled seeing the grin on Mr. Keller's face when she turned around to look at him._

_"I do believe I asked your brother," She snarled, imitating his posh voice perfectly._

_"That's a new tone to use with your teacher," he said casually, flicking a strand of blonde hair back._

_"I didn't think this was a class room," she said coldly. "I honestly had no idea, Mr. Keller."_

_"Call me Caleb." Walking out of the room, he shut the door behind him right before Jinx had planned on tackling him and possibly murdering him._

_"Yeah, that's my brother," King said behind her. She could hear the smile in his voice._

_-End of Flashback-_

"Yes well... keep up the good work." Caleb said awkwardly, standing up and holding out his hand.

"Yeah, okay." Jinx stood and was about to walk out the door when he called, "Wait, just so you know, mom invited you over to dinner Saturday. And call Hermoine in next."

"Hermoine, the jack ass want's to see you," Jinx said, closing the door behind her. Hermoine sighed and walked through the doors.

--

Jinx almost fell asleep waiting for Hermoine to come out of his office and once she did, she came out with a bang.

"I'M DATING CALEB KELLER!"

A very loud, disturbing bang.


	10. Going To Dinner

"What the bloody hell do you mean?!" Ron nearly fell out of his chair when Hermoine came back to the dorm, bursting to tell everyone what had happened. Jinx was too disgusted to do anything but give her a thin smile.

"I mean that I'm dating Caleb," She said, still a bit giddy from the whole event. Harry, sitting next to Fred and George, just stared at her, his mouth hanging open.

_Well, at least Fred and George haven't said anything, _Jinx thought gravely, trying to ignore how happy and glowy Hermoine looked and how smug Caleb had looked when they had walked away from his office. His smirk had more than made a sinking feeling in her stomach come. She had the bizarre feeling that Hermoine was being...

"You're dating a TEACHER?!" Fred cried indignantly. "I could make fun of Andrew because Ron hated him but a TEACHER?"

Hermoine sniffed and walked away, straight through the doors, without looking back.

Yup. Hermoine was being used as bait.

Jinx glowered, pissed that this was happening. How the bloody hell could a teacher actually ask his student out on a DATE?!

Ron looked over at Jinx. Jinx had to smile- this time for real. At least she wasn't the only one completely spun out of whack because of this. "When... what... why did he ask her?" He asked quietly. He stood up and walked, trance-like, over to Jinx's seat. Grabbing her shoulders, he shook her roughly, shouting, "WHAT HAS POSSESSED HER?! SHE HATED THE GUY!"

Jinx just shook her head and pried Ron's fingers off her shoulders. "I have no idea... but I'm GOING to find out what the hell happened Saturday night."

The next day passed slowly- too slowly for anyone to be happy. Hermoine acted stupid all through Social Studies, and Ron acted stupid all through P.E.

It was like the world was going crazy.

"I'm going to go absolutely bloody _crazy,"_ Jinx moaned in Study Hall. Ron and Hermoine were arguing in the back of the room about Caleb, of course, and Fred, George and Harry were sitting in a circle with Jinx. Harry nodded sympathetically.

"Well, they're our best mates," he said slowly. "We need to stand by them, right?" He winced, hearing Ron shout something. "No matter how painful it happens to be."

"Well, Ron's our brother," Fred said, raising an eyebrow at the back of the room.

"And we aren't sticking around for this one," George finished, Fred nodding in agreement. Jinx shook her head. The only good thing that had come from this crisis was that Fred was finally acting normal around her again.

"Well, at least Ron has come to expect you two to bully him sometimes," she sighed. Harry nodded.

"Yeah, he was saying that he was glad you two were just staying out of the argument this time," Harry said, leaning back in his chair. Fred and George shrugged.

"Well, it's the least we can do when his life is ending."

Jinx groaned and hit her head on the desk. "Life ending? Hermoine's coming to the dinner tomorrow- as Caleb's _DATE._ Now there's no way I'll be able to ask him why the hell he's doing this without Hermoine getting on my case as well!" Jinx made a face and mumbled, "And she wants me to help her pick out something to wear. Something to wear? I never think of what I wear- how am I supposed to help her?" Shaking her head, Jinx sighed.

"Well... look on the bright side," Harry said, wincing again as Hermoine, this time, shouted something.

"What bright side?" Jinx said indignantly. "There is no bright side!"

"At least Malfoy isn't here to mess everything up," George offered. Fred nodded.

"Yeah, none of them are. Finally, a good chance to SLEEP at night and not be treated to listening to those to apes snore."

Harry leaned back, his eyes narrowing. "Yeah... the two HAVE been gone for a while..." Shaking his head as the bell rang, he grabbed his things and was dragged away by Ron, while Jinx was dragged away by Hermoine in the exact opposite direction.

"Hermoine, Ron, this is stupid!" Harry said, exasperated, as the two of them talked _around_ each other all through lunch.

Jinx rolled her eyes. "It's just like you two to have been shouting your heads off during Study Hall then, not a few hours later, refuse to talk to each other during dinner." Jinx shook her head as Fred and George pushed in, Lee Jordan right behind them.

"Well, Jinx," Hermoine sniffed quietly, "_HE _has no reason to be angry with me."

"Well, Harry," Ron said, venom dripping from his voice. "_SHE _has no reason to be dating a TEACHER!"

"Well-"

"Well-"

"SHUT UP!" Jinx put her hands over her eyes and shouted. When she saw that the two had closed their mouths, she stood up, tray in her hands, and stomped off to the dorm, not wanting to hear anymore of their arguing.

"Ready?" King asked the next day, eyebrow raised at her messed up hair and hastily pulled on clothes. He grinned. "Well, did something keep you up last-"

"Finish that sentence and I will skin you alive with a stray _cat_, King, I swear," she said through clenched teeth. He laughed and held up his hands in defeat.

"I surrender."

"Good," Jinx mumbled. "Because the only reason I didn't get a good night's sleep and slept in was because your BROTHER just HAD to ask HERMOINE out." Jinx almost grinned when King's jaw dropped. Almost.

"_CLAEB ASKED HERMOINE GRANGER OUT ON A DATE?!" _He exploded. Jinx raised an eyebrow and nodded.

"Yup. Oh, and don't worry, you get to see the _HAPPY COUPLE _tonight at dinner." Jinx narrowed her eyes as the two did what they always did on Saturdays- walked around the school campus aimlessly. "He invited her."

King groaned. "I know that Hermoine's probably a good person and all, but King has this nasty habit of bringing people to dinner who make everything _hell._"

Jinx laughed maliciously. "Yeah... well, it sounds like WE'RE going to have fun."

King groaned again and fell into a park bench, sighing. "This isn't right." His face brightened a bit. "I could say that I got sick and..." leaning farther back into the bench, he kicked at a rock in front of him. "Having a brother who enjoys tormenting you to no end is bad enough. Having that brother as your _teacher_ is killer."

Jinx laughed. "At least he's not actually your teacher. I deal with him and Hermoine looking at each other on a daily basis. THe saddest part is, he just kind of smirks while she stares at him, and I can't rip his head off for being a cocky jerk because he's my teacher and if I get kicked out-" Jinx had to bite her lip to stop herself from telling him anything further- anything about why she was really here, or what she really was.

King raised an eyebrow at her sudden stop. "If you get kicked out...?" he prompted. When she still didn't finish, he asked, "Jinx, where do you live, anyway? How come you come to board here?"

JInx answered automatically, the answer they had told all the students to say if any questions came, "Different boarding school, mostly. I barely ever go home- the school's getting this whole deep clean this year, so they made a deal with the this school to let all of us- even the girls- come here."

King raised an eyebrow. "Why did they work to have even the girls come here?"Jinx raised an eyebrow. "Sexist."

King laughed, shoving her slightly, as the two sat down, finally, on a bench at the edge of the campus. "Yes, I know, I'm a sexist pig. How many times have you called me that?" He shook his head, but asked again, "So, why?"

Jinx shrugged. "I don't know. They never really told us. I'm guessing it was because they didn't want to separate the girls and the boys, considering most of us knew each other. They probably didn't want to make it anymore difficult for us." She rolled her eyes, though, and mumbled, "But I would prefer some of the boys go get eaten."

King laughed again and was about to say something, when a sneering voice came from behind the two,

"So Jinxy has gotten herself a _boyfriend?"_ Draco walked around the bench and laughed. Crabbe and Goyel, as always, were right there.

Jinx sneered right back up at him. "No, but I think I could get one easier than you could, Draco. I mean, you're even more flat-chested than I am."

King was laughing so hard he almost fell off the bench as Draco's face heated. "Don't talk like that to me, you filthy mud-blood." He glanced at King, sneered once more, before retreating somewhere else.

King, who had stopped laughing by then, tilted his head to look at Jinx questioningly. "What's a 'mudblood'? And why did he call you that, Jinx?"

_Just like Draco to make a mess then give me no choice but to clean it up._ "Er- it's just a nickname they gave at our school. Really rude and none of the teachers permitted it, but Draco used it all the time and somehow managed to get away with it." For the most part, that was true- it really was just a nickname and none of the teachers permitted it. Draco wasn't the only one that used it, though.

"Why is it so bad?" King asked. One glance at Jinx's face, though, and he decided not to question anything further. Instead, standing up and looking around, he sighed and mumbled, "I should probably go get ready for hell. You coming?"

Jinx looked around and raised an eyebrow at King again. "What are you talking about? It's still only afternoon- late afternoon at best."King shook his head. "You'll see what I mean- trust me, you'll see what I mean."

And see what he meant Jinx did. Even though she really didn't have any trouble getting dressed, she still decided to bring something to give to them- one of the few common curtesy rules she'd managed to learn at the orphanage. Right before she left to go grab something and change, though, Hermoine burst into the room.

"Oh, we're going to be late! What do you think he'll like?" Hermoine was a whirlwind of action for the next hour, moving and throwing and shouting. Jinx had the very unpleasant job of helping her get dressed.

"Does this look good enough?" Hermoine asked. Jinx nodded, again.

"Yes, Hermoine, you look fine. Ready yet?"

"You're acting like Ron."

Jinx rolled her eyes. She really did think Hermoine looked good, as she had for the past half hour- this time, she was wearing a plain white summer dress, white shoes and a sun hat.

Hermoine, though, took it off and sighed. "It's not summer, though..." she rummaged through everything again and finally pulled out a black dress, her sandals and a necklace. When she was about to ask how she looked, though, Jinx stood up and decided that it was time she pull possibly one of the lowest cards that she had at the moment.

"Hermoine, you look fine- now come on, we need to go get something from the store to give to the family, or we might look rude." Jinx wasn't sure whether she should consider it success or total failure when Hermoine paled and whirled around again, grabbing her bag and then grabbing Jinx, mumbling the whole time that looking rude would mean that they'd hate her forever for something she really wasn't.

"Her...moin...e... _stop..._" Jinx said, finally able to pull away once they were halfway to the store. Hermoine let go and apologized quickly.

"Sorry, Jinx, but... I don't know, I just feel like I have to really impress them or..." she jut trailed off. Jinx knew exactly what she was thinking.

_Or Caleb will hate her, too._

"It's okay, Hermoine- you won't look rude. Don't worry, we still have at least an hour before we need to meet King and... him in front of the school." Jinx steeled herself for Hermoine's lecture on calling Caleb "him", but she just couldn't bring herself to call him anything else. She didn't talk to him during Social Studies- she barely paid attention, anyway. She sure as hell didn't talk to him during any other time of the day. Thus, she only needed to call him 'him'.

"What should we get?" Hermoine asked, bringing Jinx back to reality. "Should we get something... sweet or...?"

Jinx shrugged. "Not good at this. But... I think desert would probably be something good to bring, right?" Jinx picked up an Oreo cake. "Thus, I am bringing this."Hermoine nodded and picked up a tray of cupcakes. "This is fine, right?"

Jinx just shrugged and went to go pay for the things, dreading the entire time the thought about going to dinner.

Un... hope this is good.


End file.
